In a series of nine consecutive rooms, FRACTAL UTOPIA explores different aspects and global perspectives concerning the state of life as human being. The experience unfolds with a sense of poetry, magic, and contrast.
Each room will have its own lighting design. Sound effects will also be used to help visitors connect with the respective themes and create, when appropriate, specific ambiance. A variety of sounds will envelope most of the exhibition space. In some instances, devices will be posted in particular exhibition areas to trigger audio responses and other interactive zones.
1- THE ORIGIN
When entering the first installation-space, viewers will face a large painting on canvas. The edges of the painting will be rough, and the canvas will be fixed on the wall without a frame. The overall format of this painting will be 10′ x 16′ and will create a strong impression with its texture and semi-abstract composition.
On the left wall of this large painting, five double monochromatic compositions in black, white, yellow, blue, and red, will be installed, (which resemble to the first monochromes by Aleksandr Rodchenko in 1921). However, each of the double compositions will consist of two squares (20 x 20”) on top of each one. The top square will be painted with textured acrylic (thick impasto) on canvas; the bottom one will be a clean and clear digital archival ink jet on photo paper mounted between two Plexiglas (In total. the length of this installation will measure 10′).
Although this will be an original installation, the reference to monochrome and the duality of the medium (acrylic-photography) will highlight the debate on the current status of painting and will illustrate the power and enigma of simple composition and pure color – as fundamental statements, or elemental concepts.
On the right wall of the centered monumental canvas (10 x 16’), the large chart REPRESENTATIO UNIVERSALIS will be installed, measuring 10′ x 10′. It will show our global and complex system of representation with its three major divisions (Politics, Identity, Science) and its multiple subdivisions and categories.
Although not scientifically based, this representation of intellectual structure and complexity, will symbolize this rational and linguistic aspect of cultural humanity, in contrast with the previous immanent strength of the monochromatic meditative compositions.
On the fourth wall of this first room (THE ORIGIN), a DVD projection will show a human bust repeating in silence, so that only the movement of the lips will be recognized, the phrase: I love you.
In the middle of the room, laying flat on the floor, a 10′ x 10′ DVD projection will show moving clouds in a continuous loop. Although mediated and encapsulated in a highly technological device, the beauty and serenity of these slow-moving clouds will contrast with the fact that they are up side down – symbolizing the problematic condition of our world…
2 – THE EVOLUTION
The four walls of this room will be painted black. Each wall will display one historical graphic.
The composition and content of each graphic will help viewers to imagine the extraordinary and inconceivable dimension of time and infinity – from the beginning of the universe (The Big Bang) up to the present. Each graphic will also incorporate a perspective into the future to illustrate the relativity of our present.
The concept behind this installation will not compete with an encyclopedic version of the history of the universe and the evolution of life. However, several precise indications will move viewers in front of this portrayal of the relative infinity of time, creating a perspective and raising emotions and reflections. The blank representation into the future aims at increasing awareness on the importance of developing sustainable way of life, as well as stimulating the imagination.
1- The first graphic will schematize the entire history of the universe. With images and notes, in a creative contemporary fashion, it will illustrate the time period between the Big-Bang and now. It will also stretch one billion years into the future. Main historical events will be shown, including the development of the first few seconds and minutes after the Big-Bang 15 billion years ago; the blasting expansion of energy; the drop of temperature to three million degrees after few seconds, and then to three thousand degrees one million years later, allowing the birth of the first stars which assembled three-billion years later into proto-galaxy, and then into galaxies, and clusters of galaxies, in continuous expansion outward. Visitors will also see when the formation of the solar system occurred.
The last section of the graphic will show a blank space proportionally to one billion years into the future to help viewers imagine and conceptualize an evolutionary future.
2- The second graphic will schematize a period of five billion years: 4600 million years into the past, and 400 million years into the future. 4600 millions years ago is the estimated time of birth of our solar system and of the planet Earth. The graphic will illustrate the major dates of the evolution of the planet, including the cooling down from the first magma, the condensation and formation of the great seas, the transformation of the chemical composition of the gas surrounding the planet, the development of the first bacteria and the hypothesis concerning the origin of life. The graphic will also show the movement and stabilization of the continents, closing the period of major crust formation, as Earth cools down. Visitors will also notice the continuous and fascinating transformation of life through cellular complexity and diversification more than 2000 million years ago, the origin of animal life around 600 millions years ago, the first Amphibians 395 years ago, the extension of forests during the Carboniferous period, the development of reptiles and then of dinosaurs more than 200 millions years ago until their extinction 65 millions years ago when is believed that an asteroid six miles in diameter hit the Yucatan Peninsula.
Visitors will see that smaller mammals can now stride in accelerating development, including primates. Ocean temperatures drop, climates waver between hot and cold extremes; then Earth grows cooler and more seasonal, grasslands and trees with fruits spread, tectonic pressures mount and mountain ranges emerge. Orangutan departs from the combined African great ape and human line about 13 millions years ago. Chimpanzee and human split five millions years ago.
Stone tool appears, probably associated with Homo Habilis, about 2.5 million years ago, with the evolution of Homo Erectus (1.8 million years ago), and Homo Sapiens (between 700,000 and 200,000 years ago).
3- The third graphic will cover 2 millions years: 1.8 million years into the past, and 200,000 years into the future. It will more extensively illustrate the evolution of the hominoid, the first rudimentary tools, and the discovery of fire 700,000 years ago. It will include the development of the life, technique and art of the hunter-gatherer during the Upper Paleolithic era, the first sedentary settlements, the beginning of the first cave paintings, and the first ceremonies that honor the dead, which appeared around 90,000 years ago. Visitors will see that three different species of human then coexists: Neanderthal man in Asia and Europe, Homo erectus in Asia, and the Homo Sapiens Sapiens, spreading over the world, entering America over the Bering land bridge during Ice ages.
4- The fourth and final graphic will cover 25,000 years: 15,000 into the past, and 10,000 into the future.It will include the beginning of the first civilizations, the industrial and information revolution, and the powerful impact of the computer-digital age.
With the end of the Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, the world’s environments underwent many drastic changes. Thermal level rose, the glaciers retreated, the seas rose rapidly, and many well-watered area began to dry out. This section also covers the rise of the first civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Africa, Europe, and America, the Classical Antiquity in Mediterranean and its new cultural development between 1200 and 200 B.C., followed by the formation of the great religions and the regional empires. It will continue to explore history in all continents and illustrate how the Renaissance in Europe with the Industrial Revolution which followed has deeply transformed the planet. Major events of the last two centuries (political, technological, cultural) will also be indicated as objectively as possible to allow viewers develop their own perception when completing this walk through time. 10,000 years into the future will be let blank, like empty white pages, beckoning viewers to use their imagination.
A series of small artworks will be exhibited in the space between the four historical graphics. The artworks will succinctly illustrate some of the contrasting variety of material and technique (from wood, stone, and iron artifacts – to architectural engineering, optic fiber, or computer ships), as well as social relations that have characterized our human evolution. For example, a horde of hunter-gatherer and the CEO meeting; the nomadic expedition, and the supersonic flight; the transcript of manuscripts in large libraries, and the compression of the Library of the Congress’ content into a DVD; the diversity of races and social conditions; the changes in the practice of medicine, and in the political/religious debating surrounding the conception of the universe. The artworks will contain a very personal and contemporary perspective. A type of “appropriation” to the benefit of inter- and multi-cultural associations.
Again: The goal is to build up perspective and raise emotion and reflection into the viewer.
3 – THE GALLERY
The third room will have a more minimalist composition. It will also bring back the attention of the viewers to what is, historically, the most powerful representation of art as a symbol of creative expression and invention: the art of painting.
The walls will be painted off-white.
Three large paintings (acrylic on canvas) measuring 9′ x 7.5′ will be installed on three walls. The center painting, THE BLUE SELF, will be characterized by a strong dominance of the color blue applied with impasto. The painting on the left of THE BLUE SELF, entitled STRUCTURE OF A COMMITMENT, will have a pure red dominance while the one on the right, THE YELLOW ANALYSIS, will have a yellow dominance.
The contrast in each painting between the very organic nature of impasto, and the geometric and then more intellectual structure of the composition will emphasize furthermore the dual characteristic of life: chaos and order – and the possible harmony of the whole.
Three abstract digital compositions, measuring 10″ x 36″, mounted between Plexiglas will be placed on the fourth wall.
These artworks will not only refer to the omnipresence of digital technology, but they will reinforce the specific and very differential nature of the adjacent medium of painting with its own logic of fluid and stone, of material presence and original action of its author : the unique characteristic of painting as object of identification for the unconscious drives of the human body as a whole – blood and spirit united.
4 – SAVE THE WORLD
This installation will exhibit some of the many propositions and projects currently discussed and implemented throughout the world with a conscious decision and awareness of working for a better and more sustainable future for humankind.
The ensemble will be presented and assembled as a mix of high and low technology within a perspective of global and local issues.
All walls and ceiling and floor will be involve as screens of all kind. Other technologies will highlight randomly the propositions of différent cultures while sociological statistics will be illustrated.
5 – THE METAMORPHOSIS
On the floor of this room (painted black with Cave art type of digital motives) a large circle with a 20″ diameter and a 63′ circumference will be formed by 12 small sculptures positioned every five feet around this circumference circle. Each sculpture will be made of recycled manufactured familiar ready-made domestic objects. Assembled and glued together, these ready-made objects will form a new object. This new composition will then be painted white and covered with pure white glitter to give them the appearance of a very precious artifact: the final sculpture.
In the center of this circle of twelve “precious” sculptures, a large spherical structure will be installed. A blue spot will be projected directly from the ceiling to this sphere, and twelve white spots will be projected directly on the twelve sculptures on the floor. The surrounding environment will be left in darkness to allow the sculptures and the central smoking structure to glow in the dark.
Part mysterious and part absurd, this alchemical metamorphose of all things will symbolize the mysterious origin of all beings, and bring an element of magic and humor into the context of the exhibition. The general atmosphere created by the effect of the lighting system, the subtle but vibrant surrounding sound, the glowing sculptures and the quasi fluorescent smoke surrounding the central installation will generate a certain magical effect on viewers.
6 – THE AGREEMENT
The walls of this room will be painted an industrial grey.
Two third into the space, a plasma monitor will be installed, laying flat on the floor and facing up, with CNN International News playing in real time (May be several other international news chanel), without sound. It will serve as a reminder of the real and constant connection to the real world situations, and how information is presented and manufactured to us through the selective interpretation of mass media.
A blue ladder will also be placed flat on the floor few feet from the monitor. Asking to be used, the ladder symbolizes a primal instrument to reach out, relate, communicate. It is painted blue because it is a color that can more directly relates to our pristine state of consciousness. In mythology, the ladder is used as a metaphor for building bridges between cultures and humans – for reaching out, going toward, forward, reaching a dream. We use a ladder because we cannot do it as we are. We cannot pick up the moon up there. The Little Prince uses a ladder in the well-known story. It is a simple but a strong symbol that represents a practice idea about relationships and communication.
A miniature monitor will be hung on the back wall showing a dancer in continuous motion, on a black background. Three feet above the monitor, labeled on the wall, the words will be written:
://eye_luv-you:))
7- THE COMMUNICATION CENTER
This room will be painted completely black.
A table and a chair will be placed one third into the room. A laptop computer on the table will be connected to the Website WWW.FRACTALUTOPIA.COM. The website will be projected on the wall to magnify the interactive process. The public will be invited to browse and to exchange ideas about the exhibition and series of related themes. Links to email addresses will allow the visitors-participants to send messages or feedback to the artist and/or the sponsoring institution.
8 – THE YELLOW SANCTUARY ROOM
After viewers experience installations 1 through 7, having undergone challenging and intense stimulation of the senses and the intellect, they will enter a peaceful, calm and meditative space. It will allow viewers to feel the incommensurable and incomprehensible reality of infinity of space and eternity of time – and communicate awareness of the realities of infinity and eternity.
One entire wall, from floor to ceiling, will be painted in light yellow. Centered in the middle of this wall, a large circle five-feet in diameter will be paint with a slightly purer tone of the same yellow.
The mat yellow acrylic paint will be applied with a roller, like wall painting is, to reduce the painterly effect and emphasize the compositional atmosphere. In such composition, the color yellow can have a very serene, penetrating and breathing effect.
This respiration (Spiritual) effect will be reinforced by the presence of a white chair located in front, facing the yellow mural from about 10 feet away.
9 – THE NEW VISION
On the main wall of the last room of the journey, a large mirror will be installed, allowing the viewer to see their entire bodies: a direct reminder of the subjectivity of all perspective. This room will be painted completely black, and photographs of eyes will be placed on the walls at random.
We can deduct that the same eye is everywhere, but it cannot be distinguish if it is a man’s or woman’s eye. Its age is uncertain. We see a kind of a-temporal, anonymous eye. We see eyes. We see something of the function of seeing or viewing. These eyes are also looking without emotion, as if neutral: simply looks looking. They seem more engaged in producing a new way of looking than a new object. What is déjà vu in what there is to see? What, before seeing, has already been seen?
Viewers can interpret this installation in many ways. They might feel that they are being observed by others, the crowd, the society, or history. The mirror reinforces the eye arrangement by referring to the “looking” activity, evoking viewers to reflect on the meaning of vision, the sense of sight, and to consider visual art as a system, a phenomenon, or an institution.
It has been said that the true political function of art resides in the critical consciousness applied to itself. In this final installation, exhibition visitors become human subjects, and are asked to engaged in a fundamental activity: namely the one of judgment.. Judgment, because an invitation is extended to the visitors to see, feel, accept, reject, criticize . . . and eventually judge.
